Why tight end is not the Detroit Lions biggest draft need

Hindsight is always the clearest view of any draft. It’s very easy to say that the Lions should have selected Aaron Donald instead of Eric Ebron in the 2014 draft. Which as we saw from Ebron’s production in Indianapolis last season isn’t necessarily about him, but perhaps more about the fact that Donald would excel in any system.

Now virtually every player has some questions marks. A select few only have a couple of small ones. For others, those question marks are bigger and some times manifold. Good teams sift through the question marks and make good decisions that benefit their team.

Poor teams make poor choices and suffer for it. Lions fans know about that because for years that had been the standard they performed at. But that would seem to no longer be the case.

The fact that Bob Quinn spent two drafts supplying Jim Caldwell with players that Caldwell wanted and fit his system has skewed the overall barometer of his success. However, last year when he drafted solely for Matt Patricia’s system, he came away with the most productive draft class in the NFL.

The continuation of that success should only result in success on the field for the Detroit Lions. Which means that how they choose to use their first pick will go a long way towards determining how the rest of the dominoes fall through the rest of their draft and ultimately whether they succeed or fail on the field.

So with that being said, will Bob Quinn go for a tight end? Perhaps one of those talented defensive linemen? Or will they go, offensive lineman as Quinn has shown the propensity to do?

We will find out in only two short weeks, but this much is certain; if they are drafting for ‘need’ with their first pick at number eight, it won’t be a tight end. It will most likely be an offensive lineman again, which neither Matthew Stafford or Kerryon Johnson will complain about.